Guild Wars 2

Like the title says, I recently began material gathering again and noticed, apparently at random, a node will give Ruined when I have the proper tools. Using Mithril tools to gather Iron/Platinum and the same level wood. This didn’t used to happen months ago when I was farming materials.

More likely than not you have a trait that is triggering. Long standing bug.

Look out for traits and skills which are triggering automatically. Very often, this happens when you’re harvesting while still being attacked.

Some examples I know about:
Engineer – Hidden Flask (Minor trait under Alchemy). If your health drops to the threshold while harvesting, you’ll drink the elixir (considered an ‘interrupt’) and that causes the ruined node.

Warrior – Shrug it Off (Major trait under Tactics). If you get 2 conditions while harvesting, this will activate (considered an ‘interrupt’) and cause the ruined node.

Elementalist – Arcane Shield (Utility skill). If you cast this up before harvesting and it blocked the 3rd attack, it will explode. When it does, its considered an ‘interrupt’ and you will get a ruined node.

Another possibility is getting dazed or stunned while gathering. That would give you ruined nodes too…